Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Ministry of Water Resources Bangladesh Water Development Board Blue Gold Program Final Report on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on Rehabilitation of Polder 2 January 2016 Acknowledgement The Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS), a Public Trust under the Ministry of Water Resources, wishes to thank the Officials of the Blue Gold Program of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) for inviting CEGIS to render consultancy services to carry out the Environmental Studies of the Blue Gold Program for Polder 2. CEGIS acknowledges the support and cooperation of Mr. Sujoy Chakma, Director, Planning- III, BWDB and Program Coordinating Director of the Blue Gold Program (BGP); Mr. Md Rahmat Ali, Deputy Chief (Fisheries), Planning-III and other officials of BWDB for providing valuable support to ESIA team CEGIS in conducting the environmental and social impact study. Mr. Guy Chawner Jones, Team Leader and Mr. Alamgir Chowdhury, Deputy Team Leader of Technical Assistance Team of BGP also deserve special acknowledgement for providing necessary data and documents on Polder 2 and also for sharing their knowledge. The EIA team of CEGIS wishes to express gratitude to Engr. Md. Waji Ullah, Executive Director, CEGIS for his continuous support, constructive guidance, comments and suggestion during preparation of the EIA report. The Chief Engineer of the South Western Zone, Superintending Engineer of Khulna O&M Circle; the Executive Engineer and other officials of Satkhira O&M Division-II, BWDB and the Blue Gold Program team of Khulna also provided necessary information and extended their cooperation to the study team during field visits. CEGIS records its appreciation for their cooperation and sharing their experiences. Finally, CEGIS is indebted to local population and representatives of various agencies and department who generously shared their knowledge with the study team during the public consultation meetings and field visit. The report as it stands now is due to the contributions of the above mentioned people and institutions as well as many others whom we cannot thank by name. i Table of Contents Acknowledgement ....................................................................................... i Table of Contents ....................................................................................... iii List of Tables ............................................................................................. xi List of Figures .......................................................................................... xiii List of Photographs .................................................................................. xiv List of Maps ............................................................................................. xvi Abbreviation and Acronyms .................................................................... xvii Glossary................................................................................................... xxi Conversion Units .................................................................................... xxiii Executive Summary ................................................................................ xxv 1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Rationale of the Study ........................................................................................ 2 1.3 Study Area ............................................................................................................ 3 1.4 Objectives of the Study ...................................................................................... 7 1.5 Scope of Work ...................................................................................................... 7 1.6 Limitations ............................................................................................................ 7 1.7 EIA Study Team ................................................................................................... 8 1.8 Report Format ...................................................................................................... 8 2 Policy, Legal and Administrative Framework ....................................... 11 2.1 National Policies and Legislations ................................................................... 11 2.1.1 The National Environment Policy, 1992 ................................................. 11 2.1.2 National Environmental Management Action Plan (NEMAP) 1995 ..... 11 2.1.3 The National Water Policy, 1999 ............................................................. 12 2.1.4 The National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for Bangladesh 2004 ..................................................................................................... 12 2.1.5 Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP), 2009 ...................................................................................................................... 12 2.1.6 National Water Management Plan, 2001 (Approved in 2004) ............ 13 2.1.7 Coastal Zone Policy, 2005 ........................................................................ 13 2.1.8 Coastal Development Strategy, 2006 ..................................................... 13 2.1.9 National Conservation Strategy (NCS) 1992 ......................................... 14 iii 2.2 Legislation, Act and Rules ................................................................................ 14 2.2.1 National Water Act, 2013.......................................................................... 14 2.2.2 The Embankment and Drainage Act 1952 ............................................. 15 2.2.3 The Inland Water Transport Authority Ordinance, 1958 (E.P. Ordinance No.LxxvOf 1958) ................................................................................. 15 2.2.4 The Government Fisheries (Protection) Ordinance, 1959 (Ordinance No. Xxiv Of 1959) .................................................................................................... 15 2.2.5 The Bangladesh Irrigation Water Rate Ordinance, 1983 (Ordinance No. XXXI of 1983) ................................................................................................... 15 2.2.6 The Ground Water Management Ordinance, 1985 (Ordinance No.XxvitOf 1985) ..................................................................................................... 15 2.2.7 The Protection and Conservation of Fish Rules (1985) ....................... 16 2.2.8 Panishampad ParikalpanaAin (Water Resource Planning Act, 1992) 16 2.2.9 Bangladesh Wild Life (Preservation) Order, 1973 (P. 0. No. 23 Of 1973) and Act, 1974 ............................................................................................... 16 2.2.10 Environment Conservation Act (1995, Amended in 2000 & 2002) ... 16 2.2.11 The Environment Conservation Rules, 1997 ......................................... 17 2.3 Procedure for environmental clearance ......................................................... 17 2.4 Administrative Framework ............................................................................... 20 3 Approach and Methodology ................................................................. 21 3.1 EIA Process ......................................................................................................... 21 3.2 Project Design and Description ....................................................................... 21 3.3 Environmental and Social Baseline ................................................................ 22 3.3.1 Climate and Meteorology .......................................................................... 22 3.3.2 Topography and Seismicity ...................................................................... 22 3.3.3 Water Resources ........................................................................................ 23 3.3.4 Land Resources........................................................................................... 23 3.3.5 Agricultural Resources ............................................................................... 23 3.3.6 Livestock Resources ................................................................................... 24 3.3.7 Environmental Quality ............................................................................... 24 3.3.8 Fisheries Resources ................................................................................... 24 3.3.9 Ecological Resources .................................................................................. 25 3.3.10 Socio-economic Condition ......................................................................... 26 3.4 Scoping ............................................................................................................... 26 3.5 Bounding ............................................................................................................. 26 iv 3.6 Major Field Investigation ................................................................................. 26 3.7 Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ............................................ 27 3.7.1 Impact Quantification and Evaluation .................................................... 27 3.7.2 Assessment Methodology ........................................................................